Shs 3.7bln dam in Kole left to waste

KOLE – A Shs 3.7 billion water dam in Kole district lies idle, 15 years after it was constructed to provide water for irrigation and domestic use, this news website can say.

Leye Dam located in Leye village, Telela parish in Ayer Sub-county was constructed by the government in 2007. The World Bank-funded project was meant to provide water for irrigation during the dry season to boost production and provide water for domestic use.

However, the dam measuring 2 square kilometres has been taken over by the weeds rendering farmers helpless.

Moris Okello, a resident of Leye says the dam got out of use after being covered by the aquatic weeds.

Leye Village chairman, Jimmy Okello says the dam has been non-functional for about 15 years rendering despite the need for water for irrigation.

“We used to benefit a lot from this dam and my appeal is that the dam be restored,” he said.

Ayer Sub-county LCIII chairman, Bosco Okori says the idle dam has so far claimed five lives, “Five people have so far drowned in this dam but as the local leaders we are engaging the Ministry of Water and Environment to ensure that the dam is fenced off and the water weeds removed to restore the dam,” he said in an interview on Wednesday.

Intervention

Joe Okello Ayer, the chairman water users’ committee for Leye dam says the dam which was constructed in 2007 was attacked by aquatic weeds, prompting an intervention by the Ministry of Water and Environment,

“This dam was attacked by quire weeds and as the chairman water users’ committee I reported to the district and on June 9, 2023, I received a team from the Ministry of Water and Environment with a weed controller contractor. A team of weed controllers are already on ground doing work,” he said.

Isaac Opio, the machine supervisor at African Egyptian Engineering Construction Services, a company that was hired to fight to eliminate weeds from the dam, says they expect the work to be completed in two months’ time.

“We did this kind of work on Lake Victoria and no doubt we shall finish this work. What we are doing is to remove weeds from the dam and we expect to complete the work in two months’ time,” Opio said adding that their company will be on the ground to do routine maintenance of the dam.

Leye dam is located in Leye village about 3 kilometres from corner Ayer on Lira-Kampala road. The dam covers five villages of Leye, Adit, Apala, Okar and Alebere in Telela parish, Ayer Sub-county in Kole district.

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